Unity Health Toronto (UHT) Hospitalist Fellowship
OVERVIEW OF THE FELLOWSHIP: The Unity Health Toronto Hospitalist Fellowship Program is a unique 12-month training opportunity for physicians who are graduates of a residency program in Family Medicine or Internal Medicine to acquire advanced skills in the management of complex, hospitalized medical patients. In addition to caring for acutely-ill patients affected by multi-system disease or presenting with undifferentiated problems, excellence and compassion in treating inner city patients will be a focus. This includes the pharmacologic treatment of substance use and addictions, advanced discharge planning and mobilization of community supports for those experiencing homelessness, culturally-sensitive care, assessment and management of the frail elderly, and more.
Trainees will have opportunities to experience a large, urban teaching hospital (St. Michael’s Hospital), a large community hospital (St. Joseph’s Hospital) and a rehabilitation hospital (Providence Health Care). The rotation schedule has been curated to provide excellent learning in both hospitalist/internal medicine rotations and sub-specialties relevant to the work of a hospitalist. Family medicine physicians have the option to join a longitudinal family medicine clinic to further their learning. Consideration is also given to unique education experiences (e.g. rural medicine) that are specific to individual fellow needs in order to meet the fellow’s personal education goals. There is a heavy emphasis on education and fellows are taught by faculty who are experts in their field. Fellows will also receive ample protected time and strong faculty mentorship for education, research, quality improvement, and leadership endeavors. Graduating fellows will have the necessary skills, experience, and confidence to practice independently anywhere in the world and will be highly sought after for permanent hospitalists positions in a faced-paced, diverse health care settings that may include urban, community, or rehabilitation sites.
WHO SHOULD CONSIDER THIS FELLOWSHIP:
This fellowship would be of benefit to physicians in practice or residents approaching graduation who are planning on working as a hospitalist anywhere in the world and are seeking additional training in caring for complex medical inpatients. Fellows must be graduates from a recognized residency program in Internal Medicine or Family Medicine. Applicants must have worked with hospitalized patients in a general medicine setting within the previous 3 years at the time of application.
FORMAT OF THE FELLOWSHIP: This is a 12-month, hospital-based fellowship focused on experiential learning that is supplemented by a strong, formal education curriculum. Twelve blocks are spent on core rotations and 1 block is dedicated to an elective rotation, and up to 20 half-days are protected for independent, scholarship endeavors.
The core rotations include learning on the general medical ward/hospitalist team, the Emergency Room, the rapid referral medicine ambulatory clinic, and on a variety of in-patient specialties such as cardiology, neurology, critical care, addictions and geriatrics. St. Michael’s Hospital, the primary training site, is a busy urban center in downtown Toronto, well-known for its focus on the care of patients with marked social inequities and multiple, advanced medical illnesses. The hospital provides care to the largest number of unhoused individuals in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The population it provides care for reflects the diversity of the local population and includes a large number of Indigenous community members.
A broad range of specialties are represented within the program, many of which are not available elsewhere in the city. For example: the gastroenterology service provides an innovative therapeutic endoscopy focus; the respirology inpatient ward is the only one in Toronto that cares for both general respirology and cystic fibrosis patients; the geriatric inpatient unit is the only one led by geriatricians; and the Addictions Consult team provides round-the-clock support of hospitalized patients, including cutting-edge pharmacotherapy options and a well-developed ambulatory program. Fellows will also spend time at Providence Healthcare, focusing their learning on issues relevant to rehabilitation, palliation, long-term care, and community outreach settings.
EDUCATION CURRICULUM: There is a strong emphasis on education, both through specific academic half days and optimization of experiential learning. Unique education half-days include an “on-call boot camp” early in training to ensure fellows are prepared to meet the urgent demands of their patients, a communications workshop for advanced communication skills, and multiple sessions dedicated to POCUS and procedural learning. The program will also protect time for fellows to partake in the robust residency teaching sessions that are part of the core rotations and provide regular academic half-days to round-out the training on topics relevant to the work of a hospitalist.
CALL REQUIREMENTS: Fellows will be responsible for between 2-4 (usual 3) in-house overnight call shifts or the equivalent per rotation block (exception is Critical Care where 5 in-house overnight call shifts is required). Careful attention has been given to ensure that the nature of the call requirements enhance the fellows’ training experience and that fellows are appropriately supported.
START DATE OF FELLOWSHIP: Fellowships begin on July or January of each year.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS: Applicants to the Fellowship must have been engaged in direct patient care of hospitalized patients, on a general medicinal ward, within the previous 3 years from the time of application. This program is designed to further the skills of Family Medicine and Internal Medicine physicians, and recent clinical experience in these areas is a requirement of the program. Specialists of internal medicine who are interested in working as hospitalists will also be considered if they have ample recent experience in general medical care of hospitalized patients.
Prerequisite experience:
- Experience caring for general medical patients in a hospital setting in the past 3 years
- Graduation from a residency program in internal medicine or family medicine
- Applicants from other programs, e.g. anesthesia, may be considered if they have ample experience caring for general medical hospitalized patients
Application requirement documents:
- A letter of intent expressing the applicant’s interest in the Fellowship and how the Fellowship relates to their previous training and work experience and what they hope to gain by completing the Fellowship
- An up-to-date Curriculum Vitae
- Applicants who are currently in training, or who graduated in the past 1 year, must include copies of in-training evaluations received during residency and a supporting letter from their Program Director
- Reference Letters from 3 physicians who worked directly with the applicant within the last 3 years, one from a Program Director is preferred.
It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure all components are received in a timely manner. If an applicant is anticipating a delay in a component of their application, they are encouraged to reach out to let us know so that we may continue to consider their application on a case-by-case basis.
DEADLINES: Applications will continue to be accepted while there are openings.
Interested applicants are welcomed to contact [email protected] to inquire about availability and ensure they meet the application criteria.
Recruitment is ongoing throughout the year for a January and July start Date. The vast majority of fellows will start in the July cohort. Open spots may be available at any time and interested applicants are encouraged to inquire.
To increase the chances of acceptance, applicants are encouraged to submit their applications for 2025-2026 no later than August 29, 2025.
All interested applicants are encouraged to inquire about eligibility.
Unity Health Toronto invites applications from all qualified individuals. We are strongly committed to employment equity, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace and encourage applications from Black, racialized/visible minority and Indigenous/Aboriginal people, women, persons with disabilities, and 2SLLGBTQ+ persons. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, in accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada will be given priority. Unity Health Toronto will provide support in its recruitment processes to applicants with disabilities, including accommodation that takes into account an applicant’s accessibility needs. If you require accommodation during the interview process, please contact us at [email protected].
NUMBER OF SPOTS: Fifteen (15)/year. Only successful applicants will be notified about an interview.